Security Guard Bill Rate Calculator

Most new security companies price from the guard's wage and lose money on every hour. Enter your numbers to see what one hour of coverage really costs you and the rate you need to charge.

How this is worked out

Every cost is allocated to the job in front of you: take the annual cost and divide it by the annual billable hours for that job. That is how our own costing manual works each of its examples, and it is more truthful than a flat burden percentage when one contract is a quiet lobby and the next is a construction site.

Finding your local wage

The wage is the foundation of everything below it, and it is regional. The national median wage for security guards was $38,020 a year in May 2025 — about $18.28 an hour over 2,080 hours — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is the default above, and it is a starting point, not your number. To find yours: call other security companies in your area and ask about a job, ask your state labour department what guards are currently paid locally, look your state up in the BLS data, or ask anyone you know in law enforcement or the industry.

Margin is not markup

Multiplying your cost by 11% and adding it on does not give you an 11% margin — it gives you about 9.9%. To actually keep 11% of the invoice you divide by 0.89. The calculator shows both so you can see the gap, because pricing off the markup number is the most common way a bid that looked profitable isn't.

Relief staffing

A 40-hour post is not one officer. If your only officer is already at 40 hours, the first call-off is overtime. Staffing to fewer hours each means a colleague can cover a shift inside their own 40 — which is why the calculator sizes the crew on a target of 32 hours rather than 40, and why uniforms are costed per officer hired rather than per post.

Defaults are examples, not recommendations. Get your state unemployment rate from your state workforce agency, and your workers' comp and general liability figures from your own quotes. Fixed rates used above: employer FICA 7.65% (IRS Topic 751); federal unemployment 0.6% on the first $7,000 (IRS Topic 759); overtime at 1.5× (DOL). This is a planning tool, not tax, legal or accounting advice.

Professionally prepared templates, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state — have an attorney review before use.